Zerolatency

Zerolatency is a term used to describe systems and methods that aim to minimize the delay between an input and its corresponding output. There is no true zero latency in physical systems due to signal propagation, conversion, and processing, but "zero-latency" is used to describe performance that is effectively instantaneous for most users. The term appears in audio, networking, and data processing contexts and is often employed in marketing as well as design goals.

In audio, zero-latency monitoring routes the input signal directly to the output hardware, bypassing most software processing. This is achieved by hardware direct monitoring and minimal buffering in the audio interface. Software monitoring adds latency equal to the buffer size, plus any plugin or effect lookahead; with small buffer settings, total round-trip latency can be under 1 millisecond, though larger buffers increase delay.

Within digital audio workstations, certain plugins are described as zero-latency if they do not require lookahead. Algorithms that are nonlinear or require analysis across time often introduce latency, while simple EQs or dynamics processors can be zero-latency.

In networking and data transfer, zero latency is unattainable over real distances. Low-latency designs seek "near-zero" latency through fast-path processing, kernel bypass, RDMA, and edge computing, achieving latencies in the microseconds to low-milliseconds range in controlled environments. Propagation delay from distance remains a fundamental limit.

Zero Latency is also the name of a VR arcade brand and is used more broadly in marketing to convey instant responsiveness in products and services.